The Southbank Centre’s London Literature Festival opens (20-30 Oct), this year headlined by a world exclusive event with Greta Thunberg. The programme highlights include:
- Greta Thunberg’s The Climate Book features crucial climate voices including Kate Raworth, Naomi Klein and Margaret Atwood. The event, in collaboration with Penguin Live at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, will be live streamed for free around the world
- Festival lineup features UK & international literary names such as Malorie Blackman, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Karl Ove Knausgård and George Saunders. Well-known names include YouTuber Adam B, Minnie Driver and Graham Norton.
- The Southbank Centre is supporting new writing talent with events featuring debut London writers and the next generation of writers including Writers’ Day in partnership with Creative Future
- New commissions include Jay Bernard’s performance piece Joint, about joint enterprise, a contested law that is often used in racist and classist ways
- A free family programme celebrating the natural world and the environment, with talks and readings highlighting upcoming children’s authors
- A feast of poetry events including a showcase performed by the 2021 New Poets Collective and a National Poetry Library Open Day at the world’s biggest public collection of modern poetry
Ted Hodgkinson, Head of Literature & Spoken Word at the Southbank Centre says: “I am truly thrilled that Greta Thunberg is headlining this year’s festival in a world exclusive launch of The Climate Book. With inclusivity and accessibility at the Southbank Centre’s heart, we’re also live streaming this event for free around the world. We welcome everyone to join us to celebrate the power of language and explore the most timely story of today – how and why our planet is changing.”
Check website for full press release: www.southbankcentre.co.uk
